I came across a study on the BBC the other say and was very
intrigued by the statistics they were posting, apparently it is hard to lose
weight and go from obese to normal BMI in a year, the more obese you are the
harder it is, no kidding. The figures suggested that men with over 40 BMI (mine
was 39.something at the start) have only one in around 1200 chance of doing
this in a year, too me 7 months.
The above firstly made me realise quite what an achievement
my weight loss has been and secondly made me want to look further into the study.
It was done using medical data obtained through people that had weight taken at
the doctors over the course of time, to me this suggested they were probably on
a diet that was given to them by their medical professional and so were very
unlikely to be on a low carb diet. Not saying that low-carb diets work best
(thought for us they do) but both Katie and I will have achieved going from
Obese to healthy in under a year, something that, according to this study, is
really against the odds.
As I technically fall into the 35-39.9 category I had 1 in
701 chance of getting to normal BMI within a year. Katie was actually just in
the same group and so her odds were 1 in 430 of making it down to a healthy BMI
in a year. So what are the odds therefore that we were both going to make it
down to a healthy BMI in the same year? To me this does suggest that there is
something in the way we have tackled the problem.
Motivation is important, not really sure what my motivations
were compared to previous attempts, I don’t think there was anything different,
other than both Katie and I being really fed up. Of course the main difference
to previous attempts has been the use of the low carb diet. To quote the
article linked to below:
“These findings raise questions concerning whether current
obesity treatment frameworks, grounded in weight management programs accessed
through primary care, may be expected to achieve clinically relevant and
sustained reductions in BMI for the vast majority of obese patients and whether
they could be expected to do so in the future. The lack of sustained BMI
reductions could be driven by low intervention uptake rates or their lack of
effectiveness”
AND
“… even when treatment is accessed, evidence suggests behavioural
weight loss interventions focusing on caloric restriction and increased
physical activity are unlikely to yield clinically significant reductions in
body weight”
They go on to state that the current system is failing. So
in other words the current system of calorie controlled and low fat diets don’t
work for obese patients. Another section struck a chord with me as this is
exactly what I have experienced on all other diets:
“We observed reductions in BMI category more frequently
among patients with a higher baseline BMI, but these decreases were more likely
to be followed by subsequent increases than further decreases or stability in
BMI category.”
It was followed with words that will explain why Katie and I
will need to be careful after this year and stay on a low-carb life-style.
“It has previously been reported that approximately 80% of
people who intentionally achieve weight loss of 10% or more of their body
weight will regain that weight within a year”
They concluded with
“Our findings indicate that current nonsurgical obesity
treatment strategies are failing to achieve sustained weight loss for the
majority of obese patients. For patients with a BMI of 30 or greater kilograms
per meters squared, maintaining weight loss was rare and the probability of
achieving normal weight was extremely low. Research to develop new and more
effective approaches to obesity management is urgently required”
Katie and I have done that research on n = 2 and conclude
that the answer is a low-carbohydrate diet.
